What’s $100 a Pound and Illegal in Canada?

It’s jamón ibérico, Spanish cured ham, and it’s addictive—“I’ve been ruined for all other cured meats,” says gini. Nothing can compare to the sheer pleasure of eating this ham. It’s silky, a little funky, fatty, smooth, and completely awesome. Too bad it’s also $24.50 for a quarter pound.

moh notes that the stuff is still not legal in Canada—and recommends eating it as they do in Barcelona: Buy a really good loaf of bread, a real baguette or perhaps a nice ciabatta. Toast the bread as for bruschetta. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the open side on the toasted bread. Cut a ripe tomato in half. Rub the open side on the bread to squish the tomato juices and pulp onto the bread. Sprinkle with a touch of sea salt. Pile on jamón. Then eat, and think, “How can it get better than this?”

“I’m afraid I couldn’t even get the stuff on a plate,” counters gini. “Just stood over the packaging eating it with my hands and smearing it all over my face. Ok, not quite, but you get the idea.”